5  80 

51594 


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Bishop  Quintard*s 
Samson  Sermon, 


With  an  introductoy  note  by 
Arthur  H,  Noll 


■>■ 


m 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


amgon  Sermon 


4*- 


■^ 


BISHOP  QUINTARD'S 

SAMSON  SERMON 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

BY  ARTHUR  HOWARD  NOLL,  LL.D. 

Editor  of  "Bishop  Quintard's  Memoirs  of  the  War"; 
"Alexander  Gregg,  First  Bishop  of  Texas,"  etc. 


AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  THE  SOUTH 
SEWANEE,  TENNESSEE 


in 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

S^(®r?>^>^^  related  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of 
\'^  <^|  Bishop  Quintard's  Memoirs  of  the 

\^  y\  W|  War,*  the  Bishop  enjoyed  a  reputa- 
^^^^/^-^  (?k%\  tion  as  a  pulpit  orator  that  became 
'lijA'Tl'z'fh/^^M  wider  than  national.    He  was  a  ready 


\Qryy^^^yt^yj'y:^z/^. 


extemporaneous  speaker,  yet  his  sermons  were  for 

the  most  part  carefully  prepared,  written  out  and 

P     delivered  from  manuscript.    Some  of  them  became 

^     widely  known  through  many  repetitions,  and  not  a 

<  few  became  famous.     One  of  these  had  a  history 
•J    the  Bishop  was  as  fond  of  telling  as  he  was  of  re- 
peating the  sermon. 

It  became  known  as  the  Bishop's  "Samson  Ser- 
^     mon. "     It  was  first  written  in  Nashville,  Tennes- 

g 

see,  September  2,  1858,  and  was  preached  in  the 
Church  of  the  Advent,  of  which  Dr.  Quintard  was 
8  then  rector,  three  days  later.  Upon  the  original 
5  draft,  now  before  the  present  writer,  there  are  an- 
'^  notatidns  showing  that  it  was  preached  in  Colum- 
u    bia,  Tennessee,  November  4,  1858;  in  St.  Peter's 

<  Church,   Rome,   Georgia,   March  6,   1859,  and  in 

*  Doctor  Quintard,  Chaplain  C.  S.  A.,  and  Second  Bishop  qf 
Tennessee.  Being  His  Story  of  the  War  (l  861-1 8G5),  Edited 
and  Extended  by  the  Rev.  Arthur  Howard  Noll.  The  Univer- 
sity  Press  of  Sewanee,  Tennessee.     Mcmv.     Paper,   56  cents. 

[3] 


460036 


BISHOP    QUINTARD'S    SAMSON    SERMON 

camp  near  Chattanooga,  before  the  First  Tennessee 
Regiment,  August  10,  1862.  By  that  time  its 
fame  had  spread  abroad,  but  the  Reverend  Doctor 
made  no  further  note  upon  the  sermon,  when  and 
where  he  preached  it. 

The  Bishop  was  wont  to  relate  that  when  first 
dehvered  outside  of  his  parish  (it  must  have  been 
in  St.  Peter's  Church,  Columbia,  in  November, 
1858),  he  was  informed  by  a  disgusted  hearer  that 
it  was  "positively  indecent"  and  not  fit  to  be 
preached  before  any  congregation.  Consequently 
it  was  "retired"  until  almost  forgotten.  Some 
months  later,  however,  it  was  by  accident  included 
among  sermons  provided  for  use  on  one  of  Dr. 
Quintard's  visits  to  another  parish.  This  was  no 
doubt  St.  Peter's  Church,  Rome,  Georgia,  in 
March,  1859;  and  when  discovered  with  his  homi- 
letic  ammunition,  he  read  it  over  carefully  with- 
out finding  anything  in  it  that  could  be  charac- 
terized as  indecent,  and  so  he  determined  to  try 
it  again.  It  made  a  deep  and  wholesome  impres- 
sion upon  the  minds  of  those  who  then  heard  it, 
and  from  that  time  on  it  was  its  author's  first 
choice  among  his  sermons. 

One  Sunday  night,  after  he  became  a  Bishop, 
he  preached   it  in   Christ    Church    Cathedral,   St. 

[4] 


BISHOP    QUINTARDS    SAMSON    SERMON 

Louis,  Missouri,  and  after  the  service  a  gentleman 
said  to  him,  "  Bishop,  if  you  will  repeat  that  ser- 
mon here  to-morrow  night,  I  will  have  the  church 
full  of  men  to  hear  5'^ou. ' '  The  sermon  was  accord- 
ingly repeated,  and  the  gentleman  kept  his  promise. 

The  sermon  was  preached  at  Trinity  College, 
Port  Hope,  Canada ;  at  West  Point,  before  a  con- 
gregation of  cadets ;  at  Sewanee,  Tennessee,  before 
successive  classes  of  students  of  the  University 
of  the  South;  —  it  was  preached  everywhere  the 
Bishop  went, — not  infrequently  at  the  request  of 
someone  who  had  heard  it  before  and  who  wanted 
the  impression  made  on  his  mind  at  the  first  hear- 
ing of  it  renewed.  ^ 

It  has  been  an  oft-expressed  desire  on  the  part 
of  many  who  have  heard  the  sermon  to  have 
it  published.  The  objection  has  been  repeatedly 
raised,  however,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
reproduce  in  print  the  personality  of  Bishop  Quin- 
tard,  without  which  the  sermon  would  lose  much 
of  its  power  and  effect.  And  the  sermon  as  writ- 
ten is,  after  all,  not  quite  the  sermon  that  was 
preached  and  made  such  a  deep  impression  upon 
its  hearers.     Many  who  now  have  the  opportunity 


*  The  present  writer  heard  it  in  the  House  of  Prayer,  New- 
ark, New  Jersey,  in  1879  or  1880. 

[5] 


BISHOP    QUINTARD'S    SAMSON    SERMON 

to  read  it  will,  for  example,  miss  the  lines  which 
the  Bishop  introduced  most  impressiv  ely : — 

"There  is  a  time,  I  know  not  when, 
A  place  I  know  not  where, 
That  marks  the  destiny  of  men 
To  glory  or  despair. 

But  it  is  hoped  that  those  who  have  heard  the 
sermon  will,  as  they  now  read  it  as  it  was  first 
written,  be  able  to  recall  the  winning  personality  of 
the  beloved  Bishop,  his  impressive  manner,  and  his 
voice  "as  musical  as  the  lute  and  as  resonant  as  a 
bugle."  Let  it  also  be  hoped  that  this  message 
of  Bishop  Quintard,  quite  as  much  needed  in  the 
world  to-day,  will  do  good  as  of  yore,  in  "turning 
the  hearts  of  the  disobedient  to  the  wisdom  of 
the  just." 

The  manuscript  presents  evidences  of  alterations 
made  at  different  times  or  to  fit  the  sermon  for 
some  special  occasion.  As,  for  example,  its  use  at 
the  United  States  Military  Academy,  West  Point, 
seemed  to  require  a  different  peroration  from  that 
in  tlie  original.  The  text  was  also  expanded, 
pro})ably  after  the  second  or  third  preaching  of 
the  sermon.  These  alterations  have  been  indicated 
in  this  edition  by  the  use  of  brackets.  a.  h.  n. 


Sewanee,  Tennessee, 
Advent,  1913. 


[6] 


BISHOP  QUINTARD'S 
SAMSON  SERMON 

The  Philistines  be  upon  thee,  Samson.  [  .  .  .  I  will 
go  out,  as  at  other  times  before,  and  shake  myself. 
And  he  wist  not  that  the  Lord  was  departed  from 
him.] — Judges  xvi.  20. 


fii'ij lilliHllillllilllHWHE  story  of  Samson  is  a  familiar 

one.     He  was  a  Nazarite  unto  God 


J.  ml  from  the  womb ;  that  is,  he  was  de- 
voted, by  express  appointment,  to 
liifmitmiimimTrl  the  service  of  God.  The  word  Naz- 
arite signifies  sanctified  or  consecrated ;  and  so  the 
phrase,  "a  Nazarite  unto  God  from  the  womb," 
signifies  that  he  was  sanctified  or  consecrated  unto 
God  from  the  time  of  his  birth.  His  birth  was 
foretold  to  his  parents  by  an  angel  of  the  Lord, 
who  when  enquired  of  concerning  his  name,  simply 
answered,  "Why  askest  thou  thus  after  my  name, 
seeing  it  is  secret?"  And  then  when  Manoah  and 
his  wife  offered  a  kid  with  a  meat  offering  and 
offered  it  upon  a  rock  unto  the  Lord,  the  angel 
did  wondrously,  "for  it  came  to  pass,  when  the 
flame  went  up  toward  heaven  from  off  the  altar, 
that  the  angel  of  the  Lord  ascended  in  the  flame 
of  the  altar. ' ' 

[7] 


BISHOP    QUINTARDS    SAMSON    SERMON 

The  child  thus  announced  was  in  due  time  born 
into  the  world  according  to  all  the  angel  had  fore- 
told. His  name  was  called  Samson  and  he  grew 
and  the  Lord  blessed  him.  He  grew  more  than 
ordinarily  in  stength  and  stature,  and  not  in  that 
only,  but  in  other  instances  it  appeared  that  the 
Lord  blessed  him,  qualified  him  both  in  body  and 
mind  for  something  great  and  extraordinary. 
A\^hen  he  grew  up  a  little,  we  are  told  that  "the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  began  to  move  him  at  times  in 
the  camp  of  Dan,  between  Zorah  and  Eshtaol, ' '  that 
is,  among  the  trained  bands  of  the  tribe  of  Dan, 
who  probably  had  found  a  camp  between  Zorah 
and  Eshtaol,  near  the  place  where  he  lived,  to 
oppose  the  incursions  of  the  Philistines.  There 
Samson,  when  a  child,  appeared  among  them  and 
signalized  himself  by  some  very  brave  actions,  ex- 
celling them  all  in  many  exercises  and  trials  of 
strength;  and  probably  he  showed  himself  more 
than  ordinarily  zealous  against  the  enemies  of  his 
country  and  discovered  more  of  a  public  spirit  than 
could  have  been  expected  in  one  so  young. 

According  to  the  promise  of  the  angel,  he  did 
"begin  to  deliver  Israel  out  of  the  hand  of  the 
IMiilistines."  When  the  Phihstines  made  an  in- 
cursion into  the  land  of  Judah,  Samson  executed 

[8] 


BISHOP    QUINTARDS    SAMSON    SERMON 

signal  vengeance  upon  them;  and  after  that  he 
judged  Israel  in  the  days  of  the  Philistines  twenty 
years. 

And  it  came  to  pass  afterwards  that  he  loved  a 
woman  in  the  valley  of  Sorek  named  Delilah. 
And  the  lords  of  the  Philistines  came  up  unto  her 
and  said  unto  her,  "Entice  him  and  see  wherein 
his  great  strength  lieth  and  by  what  means  we  may 
prevail  against  him. "  He  was  lying  in  the  arms  of 
a  harlot.  Bribed  by  the  Philistines,  she  undertook 
to  discover  the  secret  of  his  great  strength. 

"Tell  me,  Samson,  is  no  power  on  earth  too 
strong  for  you?  Suppose  a  man  wished  to  over- 
come you,  what  should  he  do?" 

"It  M^ould  be  very  easy,"  Samson  replied.  "If  I 
were  bound  with  new  green  withes,  that  were  never 
dried,  then  shall  I  be  weak  and  be  as  another  man. " 

[The  wicked  woman  sought  to  know  no  more.] 
She  gets  these  withes  from  the  Philistines;  she 
contrives  her  plot,  she  forms  her  ambuscade;  and 
having  bound  her  wretched  paramour,  "They  are 
at  thee,  Samson,"  she  exclaims.  "The  Philistines 
be  upon  thee." 

Samson  gives  a  shake  of  his  arm  and  "he  brake 
the  withes  as  a  thread  is  broken  when  it  toucheth 
the  fire." 

[9] 


BISHOP    QUINTARD'S    SAMSON    SERMON 

Delilah  feels  ashamed  at  being  thus  mocked  in 
the  presence  of  her  countrymen.  "Ah,  treacher- 
ous man,"  she  said  to  him,  "is  it  in  this  way  that 
you  mock  me?  How  can  I  ever  believe  that  you 
love  me  if  you  won't  tell  me  your  secrets; — if  you 
hide  your  heart  from  me?" 

Samson  listens  the  second  time  and  tells  her  that 
he  must  be  bound  with  new  ropes.  Dehlah  binds 
him  accordingly  and  repeats  her  former  cry:  "The 
Philistines  be  upon  thee,  Samson."  He  with  a 
mere  shift  of  his  body  extricates  himself  from  the 
strong  bandages,  as  if  they  were  made  of  a  spider's 
web. 

The  woman  becomes  more  importunate,  renews 
her  attempts  first  by  way  of  reproof  and  then  of 
inquiry,  and  he  in  like  manner  answers  again, 
telling  her  that  he  must  be  nailed  to  the  floor  of 
the  room  by  the  hairs  of  his  head.  Delilah  nails 
him  accordingly  and  cries  aloud  as  before,  "The 
Philistines  be  upon  thee,  Samson."  And  he 
awakened  out  of  his  sleep  and  went  away  with  the 
nail  of  the  beam  and  with  the  web. 

See  to  what  straits  this  guilty  female  had 
brought  this  strong  man,  this  judge  of  Israel. 
Three  times  she  had  handed  him  over  to  his  en- 
emies ;  three  times  she  had  brought  him  to  the  very 

[10] 


BISHOP   QUINTARD'S    SAMSON    SERMON 

brink  of  destruction,  and  yet  he  still  cleaves  to 
her.  Nay,  he  does  worse ;  he  becomes  blinded  and 
infatuated  to  such  a  degree  as  at  length  to  reveal 
to  her  the  true  cause  of  his  superhuman  strength. 
She  pressed  him  daily  and  urged  him  so  that  his 
soul  was  vexed ;  and  then  he  told  her  all  his  heart 
and  revealed  to  her  the  fact  that  the  great  strength 
with  which  he  was  endowed  was  in  his  hair.  This 
was  all  she  wanted.  She  recalls  the  Philistines. 
She  lays  her  ambuscade  afresh.  She  lulls  her 
miserable  paramour  asleep  on  her  lap.  She  has  a 
razor  brought  and  she  makes  a  man  shave  off  the 
seven  locks  of  his  head,  and  then  she  awakes  him 
and  casting  him  off  from  her  arms  throws  him  into 
those  of  his  enemies,  exclaiming,  like  one  over- 
joyed, "The  Phihstines  be  upon  thee,    Samson," 

Samson  awakes  out  of  his  sleep  and  thinking  he 
could  escape  after  the  manner  he  had  done  before, 
he  says  with  a  feeling  of  inward  complaisance,  **I 
will  go  out,  as  at  other  times  before,  and  shake 
myself. ' '  But  it  was  no  longer  the  time ;  for  the 
Lord  already  '  'had  departed  from  him. ' ' 

Thereupon  he  was  bound,  blinded,  dragged  away 
as  a  prisoner,  with  nothing  but  his  life  left  him. 
He  had  sacrificed  his  honor,  conscience,  interest, 
and  everj'^  other  valuable  object  to  his  unholy  pas- 

[11] 


BISH;oP   QUINTARD'S    SAMSON    SERMON 

sion;  and  now  taken  by  the  Philistines  down  to 
Gaza  and  bound  with  fetters  of  brass,  this  mighty 
judge  of  Israel  is  made  to  grind  corn  in  the  prison 
house.  How  are  the  glory  and  defence  of  Israel 
become  a  drudge  and  triumph  of  the  Philistines! 
The  crown  is  fallen  from  his  head ;  woe  unto  him, 
for  he  hath  sinned. 

And  now,  beloved,  you  may  search  the  Scriptures 
through  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  and  you 
will  scarcely  find  an  example  more  calculated  to 
illustrate  the  folly  of  those  who  go  from  sin  to  sin ; 
the  folly  of  all  those  who  trust  themselves  to  dally 
with  sin  and  temptation.  What  was  it  that  com- 
pleted the  ruin  of  unhappy  Samson?  Was  it  his 
love  for  the  beautiful  harlot?  No,  my  hearers,  not 
that,  evil  and  sinful  in  the  sight  of  God  as  it  was ; 
but  it  was  that  false  presumption  of  his,  which  led 
him  to  brave  future  risks  because  he  had  fortu- 
nately escaped  past  ones.  The  seven  green  withes 
he  had  broken  as  a  thread  of  tow  when  it  toucheth 
the  fire.  The  new  ropes  which  never  were  occu- 
pied, he  had  broken  from  his  arms  as  if  they  were 
threads.  And  when  the  seven  locks  of  his  head 
had  been  woven  into  a  web  and  nailed  to  the  floor 
he  had  drawn  the  nail  from  the  floor  as  one  would 
a  twig  from  the  sand.      And  having  escaped  all 

[12] 


BISHOP    QUINTARD'S    SAMSON    SERMON 

this,  he  said  within  himself,  I  will  risk  still  more. 
He  even  ventured  so  far  as  to  tell  the  very  secret 
of  his  strength.  His  locks  were  shorn  off  and  then 
the  Lord,  Who  had  been  his  strength  when  he 
smote  the  Philistines  with  a  great  slaughter;  Who 
had  given  him  strength  to  break  the  fetters,  the 
withes  and  the  cords  of  rope;  then  the  Lord  de- 
parted from  him.  But  he  knew  it  not  and  so  he 
says,  "1  will  go  out,  as  at  other  times  before,  and 
shake  myself ' '  This  was  the  fallacy  that  betrayed 
him. 

And  these  are  the  fallacies  that  betray  sinners 
throughout  the  world  in  their  not  perceiving  that 
the  day  will  come  when  the  Lord  will  depart  from 
them. 

Behold  that  young  man!  Life  stretches  away 
in  all  the  beauty  of  hope.  Out,  far  out  upon  the 
great  ocean  of  life  he  gazes.  He  may  behold  in 
the  far  distance  those  whose  ships  the  tempest  has 
shattered  and  dismantled ;  aye,  he  may  see  the  shore 
strewed  with  the  fragments  of  many  a  melancholy 
wreck;  but,  in  nothing  daunted,  he  spreads  his 
canvas  to  the  breeze  and  hopes  soon  to  reach  a 
haven  of  peace  and  happiness.  But  how  early  is 
that  young  adventurer  doomed  to  meet  with  dis- 
appointment.      Far  off  he  sees  a  httle  cloud  no 

[13] 


BISHOP   QUINTARD'S    SAMSON    SERMON 

bigger  than  a  man's  hand ;  but  as  it  rises  it  swells 
out  and  grows  in  blackness  and  burns  with  the 
lightning's  flash,  and  the  waters  seethe  and  foam 
and  the  crested  billows  moan  and  the  tempest  howls 
about  him,  and  his  light  vessel  bounds  before  the 
storm  and  with  torn  sails  rending  before  the  blast, 
nothing  but  the  wisdom  which  cometh  from  above 
can  save  him  from  the  perils  of  the  storm. 

But,  see  him!  A  child  he  knelt  beside  his 
mother's  knee  and  learned  to  say  to  that  Great 
God,  his  Creator,  "Our  Father," — my  Father. 
His  conscience  has  been  cultivated.  Right  princi- 
ples have  been  instilled  into  his  mind ;  and  the 
instructions  of  his  pious  parents  follow  him;  the 
duties  of  regarding  the  holy  Sabbath;  of  reading 
the  Bible ;  and  of  morning  and  evening  bowing  the 
knee  of  devotion  he  finds  it  difficult  to  neglect. 
The  great  hesitation  with  which  such  a  youth 
commits  the  first  act  of  open  transgression  is  an 
evidence  of  his  tenderness  of  conscience.  He  feels 
when  tempted  to  sin  that  the  eye  of  an  Omni- 
present God  is  upon  him  and  that  he  must  one  day 
render  up  his  account  at  a  just  tribunal. 

But  by  gentle  degrees  the  tempter  lures  him  on 
and  clothes  his  vices  in  the  garb  of  virtues.  For 
some  pressing  duty  he  relin(iuishes  the  hour  given 

[14] 


BISHOP   QUINTARD'S    SAMSON    SERMON 

to  heaven  and  to  God.  For  some  excuse  of  re- 
laxation he  sUghts  God's  house  and  profanes  God's 
day.  His  companions  are  those,  the  fashionable, 
the  gay  and  the  dissipated,  who  laugh  at  his 
scruples;  and  though  startled  at  their  oaths  and 
shocked  at  their  conversation,  he  pleads  that  it  is 
the  way  of  the  world  and  he  cannot  reform  it. 
These  are  crimes  made  venial  by  the  occasion,  he 
thinks.  He  pleads  this,  I  say,  but  conscience 
reckons  with  him.  He  hears  a  voice — "The  Phil- 
istines be  upon  thee!"  He  beholds  himself  bound 
with  "seven  green  withes  that  were  never  dried." 
All  about  him  he  sees  temptations  and  he  resolves 
to  overcome;  and  so  he  does.  The  withes  are 
broken;  his  strength  has  not  gone.      He  is  free! 

But  once  more  the  delights  of  social  intercourse 
(it  may  be)  woo  him  to  temptation.  He  faintly 
resolves  that  he  will  shun  the  society  of  his  de- 
stroyers as  he  would  a  loathsome  pestilence.  But 
alas,  the  arts  and  the  wiles  and  the  stratagems  of 
Satan  are  laid  too  deep  for  him.  He  has  once  had 
him  in  his  embrace.  He  has  once  been  bound 
with  green  withes.  His  virtues  have  been  once 
withered  by  tlie  foul  contagion  that  pervades  the 
haunts  of  vice  and  he  is  entrapped  again.  He  is 
flattered  and  carressed  and  led  on  until  his  soul  is 

[15] 


BISHOP   QUINTARDS    SAMSON    SERMON 

ripe  for  destruction,  until  he  is  bound  with  new 
ropes.  And  now  as  he  hears  the  voice,  "The  Phi- 
Hstines  be  upon  thee,"  he  is  startled  at  the  lenj^th 
to  which  he  has  gone.  He  rises  up  and  in  the 
might  and  majesty  of  his  strength  he  breaks  as- 
sunder  every  cord  and  resolves  never  again  to  touch 
the  wine  cup  in  which  he  has  seen  the  adder;  never 
to  touch  cards  nor  even  to  look  at  the  dice  again ; 
the  very  precincts  of  the  gambling  hell  he  will 
avoid;  the  lips  of  the  strange  woman  which  drop 
as  an  honeycomb,  but  whose  feet  go  down  to 
death,  and  whose  steps  take  hold  on  hell, — with 
these  he  will  hold  no  parley,  but  break  loose  from 
them  all;  —  and  the  new  ropes  are  broken. 

But  now  when  temptation  assails  him,  once 
more  he  says,  I  have  broken  through  the  withes 
and  the  ropes.  Twice  have  I  conquered,  nay 
thrice  I  have  gone  out  and  shaken  myself,  and  my 
strength  hath  not  failed  me.  And  so  he  flatters 
himself  and  thinks  that  if  he  give  waj'^  once  more, 
all  he  has  to  do  is  to  trust  to  the  same  strong  arm 
and  firm  resolve  to  extricate  himself  Soon  the 
enemy  renews  his  arts  and  Delilah  presses  him 
daily  with  her  words  and  urges  him  so  that  his 
soul  is  vexed  within  him.  The  arts  and  the  strata- 
gems of  the  enemy  are  redoubled ;  and  he  sleeps 

[16] 


BISHOP   QUINTARD'S   SAMSON    SERMON 

upon  the  lap  of  the  harlot  and  is  shorn  of  his 
strength.  And  when  he  is  roused  by  the  cry, 
"The  Philistines  be  upon  thee,"  he  rises  up  as 
before  and  says,  "I  will  go  out  and  shake  myself 
and  free  myself  from  them. ' '  But  alas,  he  cannot. 
His  strength  has  departed  and  he  is  in  the  power 
of  his  enemy.  His  vices  have  triumphed.  And 
now,  a  blind,  bloated,  and  besotted  and  miserable 
prisoner  he  drags  out  a  weary  life  in  the  prison  of 
the  Devil. 

And  now  you  may  see  him,  this  once  strong  man, 
yielding  himself  up  heart  and  soul  to  the  enemy. 
He  has  staked  his  peace  of  conscience,  his  happi- 
ness, his  reputation ;  the  hopes  of  friends,  the  ap- 
probation of  God,  the  salvation  of  his  undying  soul ; 
staked  them,  I  say,  and  played  with  them  and  lost 
them.  If  the  enemy  has  taken  him  by  the  wine 
cup,  see  him  a  poor,  despised  and  besotted  wretch, 
almost  refused  earth  enough  to  cover  his  miserable 
carcass.  If  the  enemy  has  entrapped  him  at  the 
gaming  table,  look  at  his  end.  See  the  pallid  coun- 
tenance, the  bloodshot  eye,  the  agitated  and  almost 
convulsed  frame.  What  regrets  fill  his  soul  as  mem- 
ory lugs  the  past  up  before  the  bar  of  conscience. 
With  what  stings  is  he  pierced!  See  him  in  his 
frenzy  make  the  last  desperate  throw  of  the  dice, 

[17] 


BISHOP   QUINTARD'S   SAMSON    SERMON 

with  the  faint  hope  that  he  may  not  lose  all. 
But  he  is  ruined  [Remorse  drops  anguish  from  her 
burning  eyes],  and  in  madness  he  rushes  from  the 
room ;  and  then ;  and  then,  with  one  plunge  finishes 
the  work  and  he  goes  unprepared  into  the  presence 
of  his  Maker.     [And  there  we  leave  him.] 

What  a  spectacle  is  this  for  angels  to  behold! 
What  a  life  for  the  subject  of  a  holy  and  redeeming 
God  to  be  engaged  in !  What  a  perversion  of  im- 
mortal powers  and  Godlike  faculties!  We  learn 
from  all  this  the  danger  of  one  wrong  step.  Not 
because  that  single  [step]  is  wrong,  but  because 
it  leads  to  others.  The  man  who  is  only  beginning 
the  practice  of  dishonesty  would  be  shocked  if  his 
future  character  were  unfolded  to  him.  If  he  were 
told  that  a  time  would  come  when  a  regard  to  his 
own  interest  would  outweigh  all  other  consider- 
ations; when  fraud  and  deception  would  lose  their 
deformity  in  his  eyes ;  and  when  he  would  stoop  to 
the  vilest  arts  in  order  to  increase  his  substance; 
he  would  think  himself  injured  by  the  insinuation. 
His  present  intention  is  to  retain  a  large  portion  of 
his  integrity ;  and  he  esteems  himself  incapable  of 
actions  to  which  his  present  measures  are  a  natural 
introduction. 

The  same  astonishment  would  seize  the  person 

[18] 


BISHOP   QUINTARD'S    SAMSON    SERMON 

who  is  in  the  first  stage  of  sensuality,  if  his  future 
excesses  were  revealed  to  him ;  the  infamous  vices 
of  the  hbertine  and  drunkard;  the  crimes  which 
mark  the  whoremonger  and  adulterer;  the  de- 
grading passions  and  habits  of  those  who  glory  in 
their  shame,  are  objects  of  his  detestation.  In  the 
sincerity  of  his  heart  he  would  protest  against  such 
actions.  Still,  how  easy  is  the  descent  to  ruin! 
Thoughtlessness  of  God  has  terminated  in  an 
avowed  contempt  of  His  character  and  His  au- 
thority. From  doubts  in  regard  to  religion  arises 
unbelief  In  the  first  stages  of  vice,  bound  with 
the  green  withes,  men  could  not  be  unjust,  ma- 
levolent or  perfidious  without  doing  some  violence 
to  their  feelings ;  but  shorn  of  their  strength,  they 
have  become  strangers  to  remorse.  Occasional 
falsehoods  have  been  succeeded  by  a  confirmed  dis- 
regard for  truth.  Occasional  acts  of  dishonesty 
have  led  to  every  species  of  injustice.  Intemper- 
ate at  times,  men  have  been  reconciled  to  the 
lowest  degradation  of  their  nature.  One  deliberate 
departure  from  the  laws  of  chastity  has  been  fol- 
lowed by  all  the  crimes  that  mark  the  libertine. 
Anger  in  the  beginning  has  not  been  satisfied  until 
the  hand  of  revenge  has  driven  a  dagger  to  the 
heart;  and  a  disrespectful  manner   of  conversing 

[19] 


BISHOP    QUINTARD'S    SAMSON    SERMON 

on  the  subject  of  religion  has  gotten  in  the  end  to 
be  habitual  blasphemy  and  impiety. 

Not  all  at  once.  At  first  Samson  can  throw  off 
the  withes  that  bind  him  and  the  new  rope  and  the 
nail.  But  every  lust  gains  strength  by  gratifi- 
cation. The  longer  men  continue  under  the  do- 
minion of  sin,  the  more  pleasure  do  they  find  in 
the  practice  of  it.  And  just  as  virtue  displays  new 
charms  the  more  we  practice  it,  so  does  vice  not 
only  lose  its  deformity,  but  is  more  and  more  rel- 
ished and  enjoyed  by  those  who  are  addicted  to  it; 
the  stronger  become  the  ropes  and  the  bandages, 
until  the  strength  to  resist  is  all  gone  and  there  is 
no  hope  nor  chance  to  return. 

[And  now  for  eacli  one  of  you,  so  especially  for 
those  of  you  who  are  about  to  receive  the  honors  of 
this  national  school,  wliat  shall  your  life  be?  One 
thing  or  the  other,  virtue  and  honor  and  holiness 
and  heaven,  or  vice  and  sin  and  wretchedness 
and  despair.  You  must  make  your  choice.  It 
will  not  do  to  say  "I  will  not  choose."  Choose 
you  must.  It  is  the  essential  condition  of  man's 
life, — this  choice  between  vice  and  virtue,  this 
struggle  between  the  evil  and  the  good.  If  you 
have  a  good  courage  to  take  your  stand  for  God, 
you  will  come  off  more  than  conquerors.      If  you 

[20] 


BISHOP    QUINTARD'S    SAMSON    SERMON 

refuse  to  confess  Christ,  if  you  refuse  God's  ser- 
vice and  indulge  in  low,  base  and  sensual  pleas- 
ures, reckless  of  God,  reckless  of  Judgment, 
reckless  of  Eternity,  you  yourselves  know  what 
the  end  must  be.  There  is  a  time  in  ev^ery  man's 
life  when  he  must  fight  and  win,  or  yield  up  and 
be  dispirited  and  lost.  It  is  as  with  an  army 
in  a  battle:  there  is  almost  always  some  point 
which  is  the  key  to  the  whole  position,  the  loss  of 
which  decides  the  contest.  It  may  be  some  emi- 
nence which  the  husbandman  scarcely  notices  as 
he  passes  over  it  with  his  plough.  It  may  be 
some  "round  tower"  as  at  Murfreesboro.  But 
around  it  the  battle  rages.  There  the  veterans  of 
a  hundred  fights  are  planted  never  to  retreat.  The 
artillery  of  an  empire  is  pointed  to  sweep  it  with 
its  iron  hail;  and  squadron  on  squadron  press  on 
and  are  lost  in  the  waving  tempest  of  fire.  The 
embattled  ranks  pause  to  witness  how  on  that 
point  goes  the  day.  If  the  position  is  lost,  from 
rank  to  rank,  from  squadron  to  squadron  follow 
dismay  and  flight  and  disaster. 

In  the  name  of  God  I  summon  [call]  you  to  con- 
flict and  victory.  In  all  your  manliness  stand  forth 
and  enlist  under  Christ's  banner.  As  men  you 
will  be  all  the  truer ;  as  soldiers  all  the  better  and 

[,21] 


460036 


BISHOP   QUINTARD'S    SAMSON    SERMON 

the  braver.  I  know  not  what  may  be  before  you. 
In  the  hour  of  your  country's  need  you  may  mark 
out  a  lofty  and  heroic  career.  Amid  the  rush  of 
battle,  calm  and  controlled,  you  may  win  for  your- 
selves honor  among  your  fellows.  With  an  heroic 
heart  you  may  bind  your  life  to  duty,  and  when 
destruction  rushes  dreadful  to  the  field  and  bathes 
itself  in  blood,  you  may  bear  your  country's  ban- 
ner with  a  firm  hand  and  an  unflinching  heart. 
And  if  your  soul  is  stayed  on  God,  come  life  or 
come  death,  your  victory  shall  be  sure. 

But  think  what  a  worthless  life  that  is,  what  a 
failure  and  a  disappointment  that  life  must  be, 
which  is  lived  without  God.  No  fruit, —  no  fruit 
unto  holiness,  a  wasted  life,  a  worthless  life,  noth- 
ing but  leaves  for  the  harvest  of  eternity !  ] 

O  beloved,  while  you  may,  break  the  green 
withes,  break  the  new  ropes  of  sin,  and  return,  lest 
the  Philistines  be  upon  thee  and  there  be  found  no 
place  nor  room  for  repentance.  There  is  every 
reason  for  an  immediate  attention  to  your  eternal 
interests.  You  are  exhorted,  you  are  conjured  to 
consider  the  things  which  belong  to  your  peace 
before  they  are  hidden  from  your  eyes.  The 
tender  mercies  of  God,  the  dying  love  of  our  Re- 
deemer, the  precious  promises  and  awful  threaten- 

[22] 


BISHOP    QUINTARD'S    SAMSON    SERMON 

ings  of  the  Gospel,  the  joj'^s  of  heaven  and  the 
terrors  of  hell  are  all  set  before  us  as  inducements 
to  give  our  hearts  to  God  and  live  as  reasonable 
creatures.  Would  to  God,  beloved,  it  were  possible 
for  you  to  realize  the  value  of  the  present  moment ! 
O  that  we  could  ascend  to  heaven  and  be  witnesses 
of  the  exquisite  felicity  of  the  righteous !  O  that 
we  could  penetrate  the  blackness  of  darkness  and 
be  spectators  of  the  shame  and  misery  of  the  un- 
godly! O  that  we  could  trace  things  to  their 
consequences  and  see  how  naturally  our  present 
conduct  must  determine  our  future  condition! 
Could  we  contemplate  our  actions  in  all  their  con- 
nections, we  should  most  assuredly  make  haste  to 
turn  from  the  service  of  Satan  to  the  blessed  Lord 
Who  hath  pledged  His  word — "They  that  seek 
me  early  shall  find  me ; "  "  Him  that  cometh  unto 
me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out." 


[23] 


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